A blog about my cats and feline information in general.
Dedicated to Mikkie, Cato, Charlie and Tina: my feline family members.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Hunting skills

There is never a
dull moment with two cats in and around the house. Charlie and Tina go outside
a lot and are perfecting their hunting skills. When they’re not hunting,
they’re chasing each other around the garden, climbing trees and catching
flies, sometimes midair.

The first time I
was aware of their hunting success was when I saw Charlie snacking on a new-born
mouse. Two weeks ago, Orla was mortified when they chased a shrew into the
house and started playing with it. She eventually got the poor animal out with
a dustpan while it was hiding under the brush. If it lived to tell the tale, it
probably needs counselling for the rest of its life.

A week-and-a-half
ago, Tina was playing outside with a dead mouse, throwing it up and dancing
around it. A week ago, Charlie brought a dead rat into the house. Orla got it
out again (these incidents happen when I’m at work). A few days ago I saw Tina
with a small shrew in her mouth and yesterday she was eating a newborn mouse or
rat. At least the rodents they’ve brought in after the incident with the shrew
were dead.I haven’t seen them with a
bird yet and I hope I won’t. Rodents I can live with, as they have nests
throughout the year and lots of offspring, certainly around where we live as
the neighbouring field is a wheat field.

It was because of
their hunting abilities that cats became popular pets in the first place. There
was a 9500-year-old grave found on Cyprus with the skeleton of a human and a
cat close together. Domestication seems to have started in the Middle East, as
soon as humans settled down and grew crops. From there domestication spread to
Cyprus and Egypt. Cats were used as mouse hunters in the grain stores in Egypt
from about 6000 BC.

It is said that
Egyptian cats came to Europe on board of grain vessels headed for Rome. There
were, however, wild cats already in Europe. The domesticated Egyptian cats may
have interbred with the European wild cats. The African wild cat (Felis lybica)
and the European wild cat (Felis silvestris) are genetically very similar and
the domestic cat (Felis catus) can interbreed with both.

Cats had a rough
time in Europe during the Middle Ages when superstitious people associated them
with the devil. But from then on they were doing well and kept vermin away from
the grain stores. Even when they found homes as companions and didn’t have to
hunt for their food anymore, they never lost their hunting skills and sometimes
will bring back “presents” to their humans.

Cato once brought
in a finch and insisted on eating it on the kitchen floor. He only left the
little head behind. The rest he ate, feathers and all. Tiles are easily cleaned
so after a wipe with disinfectant, even CSI would have had a problem finding
any traces. I felt sorry for the poor bird but hey, that’s nature, right? And
at least Cato ate what he caught.

There are
definitely advantages of cats hunting their own prey. I feed my cats mostly wet
food, as dry food doesn’t contain enough moisture and cats don’t drink enough.
A cat who only eats commercial food might get a problem with the teeth as wet
food doesn’t really clean a cat’s teeth and dry food is too brittle and won’t
do the job either, even when it says so on the package. Biting and tearing
certain toys or the use of a special toothbrush if the cat allows you to will
help but piercing the skin of prey animals is a natural way of keeping their
teeth clean.

Cats can’t process
plant-based proteins and grains. Too much grain can even cause renal failure.
They are carnivores, so they need the meat protein. They themselves know best
what is good for them so when they catch a prey, you’ll be sure they’re eating
something that meets their nutritional needs. The only cat fast food is the
stuff provided by humans: the dry food with a lot of grain-based fillers.

They certainly
won’t get renal failure from eating a mouse.

Oh, and in ancient
Egypt cats were considered sacred and were worshipped. That won’t happen in our
house. They’re family and we love them to bits. They will have to live with
that.